Telecom New Zealand is planning to demonstrate proof-of-concept Mobile Broadband-enabled notebooks at Convergence Oceania 06, in advance of their commercial launch later this year. The Convergence Oceania 06 is happening at Te Papa (Wellington), 25 May.

One of the notebooks being shown is the Toshiba M400 Tablet PC, embedded with Telecom’s CDMA EV-DO Mobile Broadband cards, allowing users to do away with data cards and connect as soon as they turn their notebooks on.

Telecom Mobile’s Head of Product and Service Development, Shane Ohlin, says the Mobile Broadband-enabled notebook market represents an enormous opportunity, and Telecom would be competing aggressively.

“We’re currently in talks with a number of major notebook manufacturers, and we expect to see Telecom Mobile Broadband-enabled notebooks in the New Zealand market in the near future.”

Mr Ohlin likened Mobile Broadband in notebooks to the rise in popularity of WiFi.

Mr Ohlin says the significant coverage of CDMA EV-DO in New Zealand will make Mobile Broadband-enabled notebooks a compelling proposition, as the notebook will be able to connect at broadband speed across around 70% of New Zealand.

“The immediacy of the connection and the simplicity of use mean these devices are sure to have an impact on the way people use the Internet.”